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Education
Public Schools Increased Spending to $23,000 Per Student, Ballooned Reserves While Enrollment Declined
Harrisburg, Pa., May 15, 2025 — Pennsylvania school districts increased overall revenue collected in 2023–24 to $23,000 per student, while expanding general fund reserves to $7.4 billion, according to new…
Read More: Public Schools Increased Spending to $23,000 Per Student, Ballooned Reserves While Enrollment Declined
Energy
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on RGGI
Read More: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on RGGI
Education
Senate Education Committee Approves Bipartisan PASS Scholarships, Offering Lifeline to Students in Need
Read More: Senate Education Committee Approves Bipartisan PASS Scholarships, Offering Lifeline to Students in Need
Prosperity
New Report: Gig-Workers Prefer Flexibility of Portable Benefits
Read More: New Report: Gig-Workers Prefer Flexibility of Portable Benefits
Citigroup Study Supported Act 44, Citigroup Makes Millions
As many who have been following the Act 44/I-80 Tolling fiasco are aware, the Turnpike Commission used a Citigroup Analysis to support their push for Act 44, tolling of…
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Read More: Citigroup Study Supported Act 44, Citigroup Makes Millions
Pew Trusts on State Pension Crunch
Pew Trusts analsysis of the looming state pension and retiree health care crisis in Pennsylvania. Index to 50-state analysis here.
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Another Poor State Economy Ranking for PA
The Beacon Hill Institute has released their State Competitiveness Report 2007. Pennsylvania ranks 34th out of 50, based on Government and Fiscal Policy, Security, Infrastructure, Human Resources, Technology,…
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Read More: Another Poor State Economy Ranking for PA
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Borrows Today, You Pay the Taxes Tomorrow
FreedomWorks calls for an end to Turnpike Commission borrowing (based on the increasingly unlikely promise of I-80 tolling) and pursuing public-private partnerships in transportation.
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Read More: Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Borrows Today, You Pay the Taxes Tomorrow
Superintendent Contracts
The Altoona Mirror has put together an extensive list of information on superintendent pay and contracts for all 501 school districts (at least the 447 they obtained information from).
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Biggest factor in rising health costs are the doctors themselves
Editorial in Dallas Morning News (by a doctor), details why health care costs to much (in part) – doctors order too many tests. The two reasons for this are…
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Read More: Biggest factor in rising health costs are the doctors themselves
Tax Free Christmas Presents
For those of you still shopping for Christmas gifts – here is a list of gift ideas, based on products that are exempt from the Pennsylvania Sales Tax: Food…
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Pension Payment Update
Update on the coming pension spike from the mid-year briefing report (page 103). Click on image for larger version.
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College affordability
Richard Vedder and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity have a new short report on the cost of college and state spending on higher education. Among the…
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52,000 New K-8 Students, 42,500 New K-8 Teachers.
Education Intelligence Agency Communique on the discrepancy between school enrollment and school hires: The National Education Association today released its annual report, Rankings and Estimates: Rankings of the…
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Read More: 52,000 New K-8 Students, 42,500 New K-8 Teachers.
E-mails show how Dems tied staffers’ bonuses to campaign work
Dennis Roddy and Tracie Mauriello have a detailed account of BonusGate among the House Democrats in the Post-Gazette, including analysis of several incriminating emails they obtained.
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Read More: E-mails show how Dems tied staffers’ bonuses to campaign work
Following Feds letter Gov Rendell says he prefers lease of Turnpike to tolling of PA/I-80
Toll Roads News on the recent communication from the Federal Highway Administration to the PA Turnpike Commission. The last line of the article says it all: “No amount of…
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Read More: Following Feds letter Gov Rendell says he prefers lease of Turnpike to tolling of PA/I-80
Turnpike CEO’s spin on I-80 tolling
Following the return of the PennDOT-PTC bid to toll I-80 (See our news release here), Turnpike CEO Brimmeier is in full spin mode. From the Post-Gazette:…
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GOP gets on The BOX
House Democratic Majority Leader Bill DeWeese spent some time on The BOX Program with Matt last weekend. Now Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and House Republican…
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Read More: GOP gets on The BOX
The Gospel of Paul
Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassell on the lessons of Ron Paul. Take note: “Compassionate conservatism” was a smart move on George W. Bush’s part, maybe even…
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REJECTED: Application to Toll I-80
Federal government sends Turnpike proposal to tax I-80 drivers back to the drawing board HARRISBURG, PA — Today, in response to the federal government’s rejection of plans to…
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Feds Decline I-80 Toll Application (Told you so)
The FHWA has declined the state’s application to toll I-80. Paul Nussbuam in the Inquirer reports: Pennsylvania is seeking authority to toll I-80 under a federal pilot program…
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Read More: Feds Decline I-80 Toll Application (Told you so)
Taxpayer money for soccer?
Its looking more likely that taxpayers will buy a new soccer stadium. Paris Hilton Gov. Rendell, who never has enough money to hand out: “It seems to me there…
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Pa. Senate approves “Rendell Lite”
With an easy 44-5 vote, the PA Senate approved spending $650M over 10 years on alternative energy. With this vote, Senate Republicans have drawn a line in the sand:…
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Read More: Pa. Senate approves “Rendell Lite”
The Freshman Earmarkers
I’ve heard of the “freshmen fifteen”, but how about the freshmen $70 million? The six freshmen members of congress who have delivered the most in “earmarks” all hail from PA,…
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Read More: The Freshman Earmarkers
Turnpike Bond Attorney defends Turnpike Bonding
The Patriot News ran Tim Carson’s defense of Act 44 today. I pointed out his six inaccurate claims in an earlier blog post, including the hilarious knee-slapper “I…
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Read More: Turnpike Bond Attorney defends Turnpike Bonding